Culture

Far from ordinary ladies on a far from ordinary day out.

This old subway entrance is fascinating in itself; the faded colours, grime and inexplicable bit of protruding rock providing a glimpse of what a lot of the network was presumably once like. And on this occasion at least, that sense of the past was further added to by the unexpected appearance of a woman in a kimono.

With 2018 still in its infancy, this unique and beautiful bonsai seemed like a suitable image to start the new year. Hundreds of years old, the tree’s recorded age is only approximated. Similarly, the scores of people who have nurtured and shaped it over those tens of decades are completely unknown. Each and every one of them, except of course the present custodian. The anonymous preservation and attempted perfection of the bonsai their only goal, as in the end, it’s arguable that the beauty of today is all that really counts, along with whatever can be saved and passed on to tomorrow.

The great thing about summer in Tokyo is the festivals. The not so great thing about summer in Tokyo is that it’s summer.

On a similar, summer-related note, later this week I shall be leaving the intense heat and humidity of Japan and travelling for a month, meaning the usual three posts a week will be temporarily reduced to a much more manageable one. So, starting from today, there’ll only be a new photo each Monday. From August 21st, however, the usual Monday, Wednesday and Friday updates will resume as normal.